


Destiny Has a Sense of Humor

by Mobi_On_A_Mission



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fate & Destiny, Reunions, Smut, Swearing, inspired by serendipity (2001 film), obviously this is me we're talking about
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:07:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27835021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mobi_On_A_Mission/pseuds/Mobi_On_A_Mission
Summary: When Murphy and Raven meet in their early twenties, it's pretty much love at first sight. They hit it off immediately, but she believes fate is pulling her away. After ten years they—with thousands of miles between them—must decide if they are meant to be together again. When love feels like magic, it is called destiny; when destiny has a sense of humor, it isserendipity.
Relationships: John Murphy/Raven Reyes
Comments: 16
Kudos: 23
Collections: The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative





	1. The Setup

**Author's Note:**

  * For [easilydistractedbyfanfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/easilydistractedbyfanfic/gifts).



> Open note to Emori:
> 
> _I still love you. In this fic, you are a plot device and as such I cannot treat you kindly. Okay. See you in the next fic you'll like me better in that one._
> 
> As far as my readers go, I hope you enjoy this one! :D

This is what Raven has been working toward since she was a kid. Countless stress headaches and evenings spent in the shop or pouring over equations and design, all for this. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to work alongside some of the greatest minds in the aerospace industry, straight away after her university graduation in May. But first, she has to get through this interview.

She’s sitting at the airport in Troit, legs bouncing in anticipation as she waits for her flight out to Polis for her big interview with Polaris Enterprises.

“Attention passengers of flight 3771,” the speaker sounds. “Flight 3771 to Polis has been delayed due to the incoming storm. Please sit tight and await further information. Our attendants will update you as soon as possible.”

Raven sighs and leans her head back against the back of the grey connected seat she is on, still clutching tight to her carry-on backpack in her arms. It’s just her luck the flight would be delayed. Hopefully, the delay is temporary and doesn’t lead to her needing to reschedule the interview. Sure they’ll probably understand with it being a problem at the airport, but she wants this to go perfectly. Nothing can get in the way of her professional image.

She closes her eyes and goes back to her elevator pitch. _My name is Raven Reyes. I am a second-year grad student at Arkadia University studying mechanical engineering. Since growing up alongside my uncle Sinclair in his garage fixing cars, I knew I had a passion for mechanics. Now I’ve moved from cars to rocketships and with my experience in-_

She’s cut off from her recitation by the sound of a kid behind her. He’s been standing by the big glass windows, watching the planes and people move around and talking to a young man Raven suspects he just met today.

“How do the planes go up?”

“The engine pushes it up into the air,” the man says. “Like a car with gas.”

“Oh okay. Cool!”

Raven’s jaw twitches. Maybe it’s technically true, but that is way too much of an oversimplification. She tries going back to her interview prep, but the kid presses on.

“Why doesn’t the plane just go on the ground then like a car does?”

“It’s because the wings of the plane flap. Like a bird.”

Raven has had enough. Her eyes shoot open and she can’t help herself from turning around and schooling them both. “Actually, the engine makes the plane go really fast. The wings force air down to the ground, which creates the lift force needed to push the plane up in the air.”

Both the kid and the man stand silent.

“Yeah. What she said.” The man, about her age with floppy brown hair and a dopey smile on his face, juts his finger out to Raven. “She sounds like she knows what she’s talking about more than I do.”

Raven bites her lip. “Sorry if that was rude. I just couldn’t let him get the wrong impression about planes! They’re not birds, you really should know that.”

He shrugs, walking toward her. “I’ve never really needed to know. Unlike you, I bet.”

The kid wanders away, probably back to his parents, and now it was just her and the man.

She smiles. “You got that right. Raven, mechanical engineer. Just finishing up my master’s next semester.” She holds out a hand to shake his.

He grins. “Murphy. Guess you’d probably be mad if I said I’m actually a business student. Marketing and Finance.”

Raven chuckles. Of _course,_ he’d be a business student. Just that breed of insufferable. “I wouldn’t expect any less, _Murphy_. So. You need girls saving you from intellectual humiliation often?”

“Only the pretty ones,” he says slyly, and she swats him on the arm. Ew. What a terrible pickup line. She has to admit though… he is kinda cute. The way his hair flops, the proud lines of his face and his sharp yet kind eyes gazing into hers… yeah.

Besides, Raven might not usually admit it, but insufferable is just her type.

Another announcement sounds over the loudspeaker. _Attention passengers of flight 3771 to Polis. The flight is delayed and should be ready to fly in three hours._

Raven sighs and turns back to Murphy. “Well, lucky you then, because my afternoon has just cleared up.” She rolls her eyes at the situation and how long it will take her to get to her interview. Maybe she should call to let them know what’s going on and that she might be late.

He grins a little too wide, then schools his expression. “I have a six-hour layover. I would love to.”

Raven’s heart flutters faster than it has any right to over an annoyingly long layover. God, she really needs to focus on her work and not on pretty boys at the airport. It’s easier said than done.

“So what do you wanna do, Raven?” _God_ , even the way he says her name sounds hot on his tongue. She loves the roll of it, the way he’s paying attention to her and only her.

She darts her eyes around the airport and her gaze lands on a coffee shop. “I need my caffeine fix. How does a coffee sound?”

“Overpriced coffee? I’d be honored.” He laughs, and she joins along with him. There’s something about Murphy that’s infectious. Maybe it’s the way his eyes crinkle as he smiles in that shy yet cocky way, but whatever it is, he just plain makes Raven happy.

Murphy rolls his carry on and Raven hoists her backpack over her shoulder, and they head over to the little coffee shop tucked in between a chocolate shop and a royalty-free jewelry store. Serendipity, the sign reads. It’s a strange name for an airport coffee shop. Usually they’d either be a chain like Starbucks or named something really basic after the city they were in. But not this one, and conveniently enough there are only a few people in line. After a delay notice, Raven is surprised the line isn’t obscenely long. They aren’t getting their airplane snacks anytime soon, and she needs the hit of caffeine if she is going to be able to deal with airport bullshit for even longer.

She and Murphy slip into line and they’re at the register before she can even strike up any small talk. She orders a black coffee, as always, and Murphy gets something with a fancy name like caramel mocha kombucha lollipop or some shit.

Raven’s coffee is ready almost immediately, and they stand off to the side waiting for Murphy’s.

“Why do you even bother with coffee if it’s more sugar than it is caffeine?” Raven teases, sipping at her black coffee and gazing up at him over her cup.

“Why do you even bother with drinking if it doesn’t taste good?” He raises an eyebrow, and Raven scowls.

“Touché. So. What brings you here to the airport?”

“I’m on my way home. I was visiting my mom, she…” Murphy purses his lips. “She’s not doing well. I had some shit to figure out since my dad died and she didn’t want to deal with it.”

The barista hands Murphy his drink and they head for a table by the wall.

“Oh sorry.” It looks like he doesn’t want to talk about it, so she changes the subject. “Where’s home for you?”

“Arkadia. I’m a senior at Arkadia U, and I’ve lived there for years now.”

“Oh really? That’s the same university I go to!”

His eyebrows shoot up. “That’s where your grad program is?”

So he was paying attention to what she said. “Yeah, I’m just on a layover here. I’m on my way to a job interview in Polis.”

“Good luck,” he says, surprisingly earnest considering he doesn’t know her.

“Thanks.” Warmth rises in her cheeks. “It’s everything I’ve always wanted to do. Spaceships, you know? It’s what every kid dreams of working on!”

“Maybe little _nerds_ ,” he jokes.

“Oh stop, you know I take that as a compliment and you shouldn’t inflate my ego any bigger than it already is.”

He smiles at her, and they fall into a comfortable silence, far more comfortable than they have any right to be after just knowing each other for ten minutes.

“Serendipity…” he muses, glancing at the sign hanging on the wall. “What does that even mean, anyway?”

Raven shrugs. “It’s about fate, I guess. When you have good luck with something you weren’t even looking for.”

“That’s a beautiful thought. Do you believe in it?”

“I think so, yeah. There’s a way things are meant to be. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though. Sometimes fate is shit. Serendipity makes the world a little more tolerable.”

“Then I guess we found serendipity right now because the world is looking more and more tolerable by the second.”

She scowls at him. “Is that a pickup line?”

“Shit did I say that out loud?” He hides his face behind his cup as he chides himself. “Clearly I don’t know how to be smooth around you.”

“No, you don’t.” That’s okay, though. Raven really likes it. Murphy is fun, and he makes her laugh. She doesn’t do that nearly enough, most of the time. “What about you? Do you really believe in serendipity?”

“I’ve never given it much thought. Right now it sounds like a load of horseshit, but maybe I could get behind it after all.”

Raven brushes a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Maybe Murphy thinks it’s horseshit, but following fate is what’s gotten Raven as far as she is. She’s not about to stop now, not when she’s standing on the edge of making her dreams come true.

Time flies by, talking to Murphy. The next thing Raven knows, it’s time to go back to her gate and prepare for boarding. Murphy goes with her, too engrossed in their conversation about which Star Wars movies are actually good to consider parting ways just yet.

“So Raven,” he starts after the attendant calls boarding for her flight. “When am I going to see you again?”

Raven bites her lip. She’s already gotten far too attached to Murphy, and she knows it’s a terrible idea to let this go any further, to let herself fall for him when she knows it would be easy. “Whenever you call me,” she says, betraying herself.

His bright eyes flash in a smile and he pulls out his phone. He clumsily navigates through the icons and menus until he’s on a shiny new contact. It’s endearing how much he seems to like her. Raven is used to attention, but somehow with Murphy it feels different. Somehow it feels like he really sees her, even though they’ve barely met. Raven takes the phone from him and starts typing in her number.

Halfway through, she’s knocked off her feet by a large man passing by with a rolling carry on bag. She whips her head around as she stumbles, and all she can see is a flash of the infinity symbol embroidered on his black jacket.

Right. Polaris. Her future. Her future, far away from Arkadia and the cute boy she’s dangerously fond of. There’ll be more possibilities when she moves away. Polis has a huge population, if she wants to date she’ll have no problem with it there. There’s no sense in starting something now, not unless it’s casual. And Raven isn’t sure she wants casual with Murphy. If she starts something with him, she’s not sure she could leave him like she’s supposed to after graduation.

“I’m sorry, Murphy, I can’t do this.” She pushes his phone back into his hand.

He just stands there, jaw agape and with the slightest tremble. “But- I thought- Please, Raven. I want to see you again.”

“Me too. But it’s not meant to be. Here,” she says, glancing around the airport. “After I leave, I want you to write your name and number on a five-dollar bill and spend it. When I get back to Arkadia, I’ll donate a book to a second-hand shop with my information. _Shadowed Dreams: Women’s Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance_. If we’re meant to see each other again, we will. We’ll find our way back to each other.”

He shakes his head. “Raven, that’ll never happen. The odds are so low I can’t even do the math.”

She shrugs. “I know, Murphy. But that’s how this works. Fate is pulling us apart, don’t you see it? We’re not meant to have more than this moment, and if we are? We will meet again.” Stupid feelings. She’s nearly tearing up.

He strokes a hand over her arm, and it sends shivers throughout her body. “I don’t like this, but okay. That’s your choice. May we meet again, Raven.”

“May we meet again.”

His hand falls off her arm and he picks up his wheeling bag before turning around and slipping into the crowd of people away from her gate. Raven watches for as long as she can, until he’s far gone in the bustle of the airport.

She hugs her jacket around herself, suddenly so much colder than she was before.

* * *

Murphy is drunk. It’s honestly difficult to ice skate like this—on a normal day he is coordinated enough—but this is taking his limits too far. He’s stumbling around and falling on his ass. It’s all in good fun though, since the tradition for Monty’s engineering student org social is to get drunk before going to ice skating. Well, officially it is just ice skating, but they are college students so they have a way of turning that into something much more fun off the record.

With it being the first weekend in December the theme is holiday, so there’s a lot of Christmas sweaters and cheap red hats on the rink. Last year when Murphy came he wore a lampshade on his head, which of course made him a center of attention. This year he’s toned it back and gone with a much simpler green sweater and jeans. He thought the alcohol would be enough to keep him warm, but now he's wishing he brought a jacket. It's already pitch black, the rink illuminated by flood lights.

As tipsy as Murphy is on his feet, Monty is drunker. He keeps on falling down, dragging Harper with him. She’s honestly too sweet to keep helping him up again and again without getting pissed. Murphy would not have the same patience.

“We’re gonna go sit on the side,” Harper says, rubbing her sore side after taking a particularly painful-looking tumble. “You wanna come with, Murphy?”

“Nah.” Murphy shrugs. “We just got here. I’m sure there’s someone out here I can sucker into getting to talk to me.”

“You’re not gonna scare the freshmen, are you?”

“What?” Murphy feigns innocence. “I could never. Those little angels have nothing to worry about from me.”

Monty snorts. “No one believes you.”

Murphy scoffs right back. “Well, no one believes you’re sober so at least I have that going for me.”

Harper and Monty stumble off toward the gate, and Murphy hears a laugh from behind him.

“I can smell the beer from here,” a familiar voice says.

He turns around, and when he sees her his mouth falls open. “Raven?”

“You remember my name? Guess I’m something special.”

“I did ask for your number, Raven, didn’t I? You just didn’t give it to me.”

She brushes him off. “Well, I guess I’m just hard to get like that.”

Murphy rolls his eyes and turns to keep skating, slowly making his way around the circle. She follows beside him much more gracefully, and Murphy suppresses a laugh. Of course, she’d be good at this. So far she’s been good at everything including being a flight risk in more ways than one.

“So Murphy,” she starts. “Are you just that obsessed with me, that you found me at the ice skating rink of all places?”

“Hardly.” Murphy rolls his eyes. “I came here with my friend Monty—he’s the engineer here. Computer and electrical. I’m just here for the ride.”

“And the high?” She is probably raising her eyebrows at him, but he’s too busy not tripping over his own two feet to be able to tell.

“Nah, not the high. I haven’t smoked anything.”

“That must be hard, coming from a business student.”

“Oh, so you remember I’m a business student? Now who’s obsessed?”

“Like it’s easy to forget.” Raven shakes her head. “Your whole personality is dripping with it.”

“Just admit it: you think it’s hot.” He winks.

“You’re an asshole.”

So she isn’t denying it. That must mean she really does think it’s hot. Murphy’s logic is flawless.

“So. Raven. I see we’ve found each other again, someplace we didn’t mean to. It’s almost… might I say… serendipitous?” He’s very proud of himself for remembering the word.

Raven pauses for a minute. “You might be right,” she says. “Wanna go somewhere a little quieter?”

Murphy’s heart fluttered in his chest. “I- uh- yeah okay.”

“I just want to talk; don’t get any ideas there.”

“Oh, never.” He grins. “I just really like talking.” It’s true—there’s a lot of things he wants to do with Raven, and talking is high up on the list.

Raven hums. “Seems legit. I need out of these skates already, they’re killing me. I gotta let my friends know what’s going on; could you meet me on the bleachers?”

“Yeah absolutely. I should talk to Monty and our friend Harper too. Make sure they’re okay and know where I am.”

“That’s a good friend.” She smiles and skates off, trying to catch up to where her friends are on the rink. Murphy watches her for a second, noting the way her bright red coat trails behind her and the way her ponytail bounces with every swinging step she takes.

He probably has a stupid grin plastered all over his face, but he doesn’t notice until someone bumps into him and he almost goes tumbling to the ground. He can’t bring himself to care too much about how dumb he looks or how short a night they’re calling it, not when it’s to spend some time with the hot girl he’s been thinking about more than he cares to admit. Raven feels different, Raven is… he doesn’t want to say special, because that’s corny, but she makes his heart flutter in a way that others don’t—in a way that feels _right_.

Murphy never imagined he’d really see her again. He wrote his name and number on a five-dollar bill, just like she said to, but that was like finding a needle in a haystack. As if she would even be looking.

Now he has a second chance, and like hell is he gonna blow it.

When he finds Harper and Monty, they’ve already turned in their borrowed skates and they are just chatting on the bleachers. With his old tennis shoes on again, Monty seems to be faring much better. It hasn’t been long enough for the effects of the alcohol to fade, but the solid ground seems to be helping him.

Harper says they’ll be good to get home just the two of them, and Murphy breathes a sigh of relief.

“Alright, have fun guys. Just not too much fun.” Murphy winks. “Gotta stay safe too.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Monty says, then burst out into laughter at his own joke.

“And you call _my_ jokes stupid? That’s just sad, Monty.”

“You’re just stupid, stupid Murphy!” Monty mocks, much like a sassy six-year-old.

“Okay sure, man. Whatever you say.” Murphy shakes his head and walks off. Monty is Harper’s problem now. He glances around as he walks, trying to find Raven and her red coat in the crowd.

Someone pokes him in the back. “Boo!”

Murphy flinches. He turns around and sees that it’s just Raven, and his body relaxes. “You can’t do that, man! It’s freaky.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.” Raven crosses her arms over her chest.

Murphy just rolls his eyes, suddenly not so mad anymore.

“C’mon.” He takes her hand in his and leads her down the street.

“Hey,” Raven says, eyeing his shivers. “Let’s get inside. Wanna get some pizza?”

“Yeah.” Murphy smiles. “That sounds perfect.”

They walk to the local pizza by the slice place that is popular with college students. On weekend nights it is packed with lines out the door, but being a Thursday they are able to get in quickly and settle into a cozy booth in the corner.

Murphy picks at his slice of mac n’ cheese pizza, too nervous to really dig in yet. “So,” he starts. “How did that interview go?”

Raven grins. “I think it went really well. When I left, they said I should be hearing back soon and that they were interested. I haven’t heard anything yet, but these things take time. It shouldn’t be long now.”

“I don’t know you very well, but from what I gather it seems like any company would be lucky to have you.”

“Damn straight.” She scoffs, then softens. “Polaris Enterprises is just- it’s _Polaris_. It’s kind of a big fucking deal, I’ll have you know.”

“Oh, I’ve seen their business model.” Murphy actually did a class project about them in his entrepreneurial finance class. Next best thing to working there, basically. It’s an exemplary business; there’s no wonder why Raven would want to work there.

“What about you, Murphy? You been on any interviews lately?”

“Eh not so much. I’m still deciding what I want to do. That’s more of a next semester problem.”

“Hmm.” Raven doesn’t seem convinced. “Whatever works for you, I guess.”

“Polis is an awful long way to go for a job.” Murphy changed the subject off of himself. “Nothing to leave behind back here in Arkadia?”

“Nothing much.” Raven shrugs. “I have Sinclair… I’ll miss him a lot.”

“Sinclair?”

“My mentor. I grew up working in his auto shop, learning everything from him from how to tune a car to how to drive to how to ballroom dance.” She laughs at the memory. “I kept on stepping on his feet; I don’t think he enjoyed it nearly as much as I did…” Her face falls. “Leaving him behind would be really hard. It’s worth it, but phone calls just won’t be the same.”

“Yeah.” Murphy rests a reassuring hand on her arm. “That sounds really difficult.”

“It’s no matter now.” Raven shrugs. “I’m leaving Arkadia.”

“Little bird has gotta spread her wings at some point, right?”

“Did you seriously just use my name as a metaphor?”

“Yep.” Murphy pops the P. “You’re welcome.”

Raven pushes his arm with a big grin on her face. “You’re impossible.”

After that, it’s easier to eat. They joke and share about their lives, and one by one Murphy can feel every piece of them fall into place. They both have addict moms and dead dads, both have been broken by something they can’t quite name but the ghost of it follows them around in everything they do.

Murphy is only vaguely aware of when they finish their food. They stay at the booth since the restaurant is nearly empty anyway, gazing into each other’s eyes and wiping their hands off first on their napkin and then on their pants.

“Do you…” Raven lowers her voice, eyes flitting down to his lips. “... wanna get out of here? It’s getting late.”

That seems like an invitation if Murphy has ever heard one, so he gathers up their plates and throws them in the trash before taking Raven’s hand and leading her outside once more.

It is still cold, maybe even colder than it was when they went to the pizza place in the first place, but Murphy no longer cares. “My place?” he asks. “It’s not far from here.”

“I’d like that. As long as you don’t plan on murdering me.”

Ah yes, of course. Murphy’s elaborate murder scheme. “Damn it you’ve foiled my plans. Guess I’m gonna have to lie and say I’ll keep you safe.”

“Oh, Murphy… I never thought for one second you were gonna keep me _safe_.”

“I could if I wanted to!”

She cocks her head. “Then prove it.”

“How am I supposed to prove it? You’re not in any sort of danger!”

“Eh you’ll figure something out, won’t you Murphy?” She pats him on the shoulder.

Murphy cracks a half smile and leads her back to his apartment. His body is thrumming, aching to get his hands on her already. They haven’t even kissed yet, but he knows it’s going to be good. Everything between them is good; every touch of her hand on his or brush of their shoulders sets a little part of him ablaze. He hungers to feel her everywhere, to feel deep inside her and reach every single part of who she is. Murphy knows it won’t fix anything or keep her from moving away, but at this moment he can’t think of a better way to spend his night than tangled up with Raven.

The second Murphy shuts the door closed behind them, Raven is on him. She laces greedy fingers in his hair and pulls him down to her, confident in her pursuit of his lips. Raven tastes sweet, like tomato sauce and something a little more sultry that must just be Raven herself. He pulls her closer by the shoulders and they slot together like puzzle pieces, first their mouths, then the rest of their bodies as she brackets him against the door.

Murphy sighs into the kiss. He lets his hands travel down her silhouette, ghosting down her sides to settle on her hips. He’s not thinking, just reacting, letting Raven lead him to what feels right. _Raven_ feels right, and he tries to not think of what that means for him.

Raven softens into him, her usual cockiness mellowed to a sexy confidence. Her breath is loud between them and her moans reverberate through both of them. Desperate to be closer still, he finds his way inside her mouth with his tongue. She is all warmth and softness, her lips are demanding yet kind. It’s intoxicating. Murphy reels in the knowledge that he gets to feel her like this, that if things go the way he hopes they will he’ll be able to know her at her most vulnerable and be with her in every way possible.

With his hands at her hips, he pulls her more firmly into him and grinds against her hot pelvis. Raven moans and rolls her hips, seeking his friction. Her left hand stays at the base of his neck to ghost over his skin and pull his hair. The right moves down, exploring over his back and dipping down to his beltline. It slips under his shirt, pressing against the skin at his stomach and feeling so cold against his skin. Yet at the same time, it feels hot, so hot, searing into his skin at the same time she was freezing it.

Murphy breaks their kiss for a moment, trying to catch his breath and check back in with Raven. “Holy shit,” he mutters, no smoother words coming to mind.

“Holy shit,” she agrees. Her deep eyes gaze up at him, eyelashes fluttering in the dim light. She kisses him again, and this time it’s somehow even hotter. She nibbles on his lip and he growls despite himself. His hands drop from her hips to her ass, kneading the tight muscle and softening her up for him. She relaxes and moans into him.

When they break for air, Raven pants into his mouth. “Show me to your bedroom.”

“Absolutely.” He breaks away from her, just enough so they can both walk. It’s more of a stumble, really, because he can’t keep his hands off of her. On the way they slide off their shoes, kicking them somewhere on the floor. None of that matters, not when Raven’s right here.

When Murphy opens the door to his room, for a moment he is self-conscious about what it looks like. This isn’t usual for him, but for some reason, he cares about what Raven thinks about him. He doesn’t know Raven all that well, not really. They’ve spent less than a day of time together, all told.

Usually, he doesn’t care if he knows someone well before they have sex. It’s different with Raven, though. He doesn’t know if it’s fate or whatever shit she was talking about, but he is feeling some sort of way. This isn’t just sex. He really likes her, and he doesn’t know if they are on the same page about that or not.

Murphy puts on his best unaffected smile. Whatever this means for Raven, he has her for tonight. That’s what matters, not what might happen in the morning or next year or any of that shit.

Raven sheds her coat and pushes him to sit on the bed, and Murphy goes willingly. Her confidence is mesmerizing, her firm press tantalizing. She straddles his lap, resting her weight mostly on her knees to either side of him. He loves the way she encases him, how right and how warm her thighs felt hugging his hips.

He plants his hands on her ass and tilts his head to kiss her once more. They both moan into it immediately, pressing their torsos together all the way down to where her hips sit just above his.

Her hands drag low on the back of his hemline, fingers brushing against his back. Slowly they pull up, revealing more and more of his skin until they need to break apart so she can pull his sweater over his head. Raven pushes him down onto his back and tears off her own sweater before following him down and seeking his lips again.

They kiss for a while longer, Raven gently rocking against him and getting his cock hard. In his haze, he reaches around her back and snaps her bra open, letting her breasts tumble out of it. His hands are on her immediately, massaging her soft skin and toying with her pebbled nipples.

Their spit creates a tether between them when Murphy pushes her gently up. “Raven,” he says, panting. “Let me taste you, please.”

“Fuck. Yeah. Okay.” She lifts her hips off of him, enough that he can pop open the buckle on her jeans and slip his hand inside. It isn’t comfortable, her jeans too tight to allow his hand in without a fight, but it is well worth it to brush his hand over her soaking underwear and feel her sex through the cotton fabric.

“You’re so wet, oh my god Raven.”

“What,” Raven jests. “Are the girls you sleep with not usually wet?”

Murphy groans. She is gonna be the death of him, he already knows it. “I don’t want to talk about any other girls, Rey. I just want to think about _you_.” He strains up to kiss her.

Raven pulls away and stands up, shimmying out of her jeans and panties. Murphy can’t help but stare. She looks beautiful, completely naked and bathed in the dim light filtering in through his window. The street light right outside is annoying, sometimes, but it means he doesn’t have to turn on a light to see the shine of Raven’s skin. A thin beam of light slants across her stomach, and he can just make out the glimmer of her juices spread out from her pussy to the tops of her thighs. He can’t wait to get his mouth all over her.

“You are so beautiful, Raven,” Murphy breathes, still in awe of how she is standing in front of him. He didn’t expect to ever see her again, not after the antics she pulled at the airport. But he did and now here she is, glowing in the limelight and cracking a grin over his dopey face.

“C’mere.” He pulls her onto the bed and she gets situated with her head on a pillow.

He settles on top of her, bracketing her body with his. He hovers over her, careful of the harshness of his jeans against her skin. He fists her hair in one hand and tilts her chin up with the other, leaning in for a sultry kiss.

She lets him lick into her mouth, moaning with it and wiggling her hips.

“Someone’s impatient, isn’t she?”

“You said you were gonna lick me, Murphy. You can't just say that and then wait this long.” Raven pouts. “It’s not fair.”

“Oh is that so?” He nibbles on her lip, and she rolls her eyes. He moves down to her jaw, leaving tiny little licks there which are really more like kisses. He trails down her neck and she tilts her head back. When he licks down her sternum and circles a nipple with his tongue, she moans and arches into him.

Raven looks absolutely exquisite underneath him, like a goddess and a porn star all rolled into one. He follows her moans, nuzzling all over her breast before taking the nub of her nipple into his mouth and circling his tongue over it. She holds his face in place, making it even clearer what she needs.

Soon enough she leads him to her other breast and he repeats his ministrations there, keeping a hand to knead at her opposite breast, now slightly damp with his spit.

Raven wiggles some more and he detaches from her breast, traveling further south to kiss at her muscular belly. For someone who seems to spend so much time doing school and working, she has a fucking hot body. Everything about Raven is hot, really. He is attracted to everything—her sharp wit, her passion, her drive. He can’t get enough of her.

Murphy nibbles at her midriff and runs his fingers down her bare sides, from her ribs down to the gentle curve inwards where they give way to her waist then out again to her hips. Raven shivers, and Murphy shifts lower still.

He licks his lips when he sees her sex, for a moment just mesmerized at the beauty of it up close. He shifts his eyes up to look at her face, and all he can make out is her mouth, agape and panting on a hitched breath.

He starts with kisses, on her thighs and then in closer, circling around on her skin. With how wet and writhing she is it seems like she’s been turned on for ages already, but he doesn’t want her to rush it. Maybe part of him wants to make her come so good that she’ll never leave again. That would be selfish to say aloud, but in the deep recesses of his brain, no one can really blame him for it.

Next, he licks, tasting her bittersweet juices on his tongue and spreading them around, joining them with his own spit. He laps at the opening of her pussy, seeking out more. It squelches and Raven bucks her hips into his face.

“Murphy…” she moans. “My clit, please, God, lick my clit.”

“As you wish.” He focuses on her clit, experimenting with circular motions before settling with up and down motions when that seems to work better for her. She holds him there, raising her hips a bit to get him at the perfect angle.

“Mmm, just like that, ah- ah!”

He keeps going, needing to bring her as much pleasure as possible. It can’t be long now, he can already feel her trembling on him.

He slicks two fingers up and down her slippery folds and plays them around her pussy, testing the waters.

“Do it, Murphy, come on—give it to me!”

He slips one inside and curls it into her. Raven responds immediately, moaning deeper and rolling her hips into him.

He sucks her little clit in his mouth, trying to push her over the edge. She needs a bit more, so he pushes in his second finger and joins it with the first inside her, grinding against the spot that makes her moan out for him and buck her hips into his face.

“C’mon,” he says into her pussy. “Come for me, baby, that’s it.”

Raven moans, lost in her pleasure. Soon enough her fingers twist in his hair and pull unconsciously as she clenches around him and comes, soaking him even more and chanting his name.

“That’s it, baby,” he says when he finally pulls off. He gives her folds a few last licks and pulls his fingers out of her. “So fucking beautiful, you don’t even know, oh my god.”

Raven giggles and drags him back up her body. He kisses her, deep, and moans into her mouth, loving how thirsty she is for her own release.

This time he forgets to keep his clothed hips away from her, and she gasps at the denim of his pants against her bare and sensitive sex.

“Get those off,” she says brusquely, arms shifting deftly to the buckle of his pants. She pops it and grins, then he watches as she slides down the zipper and pushes his pants down over his hips. His underwear still on, she strokes his length, bringing him back to full hardness in her hand. Feeling Raven against his cock, even just her hand through the fabric, sends electric tingles all throughout his body. He’s ravenous for it.

“Now who’s the one teasing?” he teases. Maybe that was a mistake because a devious smirk crosses over her face and she seems to go even slower, pressing at his head through his underwear and fluttering her eyes up to look him in the eye.

“You got a condom?” she asks.

Thank god the answer is yes. He nods and she pulls his underwear over his cock, exposing it for her own hungry gaze. Murphy doesn’t think he’s ever seen anyone so excited to see him naked. Raven is all hunger, all want, like she is a hundred percent sure of this even though they barely know each other and she could easily get a guy twice as good as him.

“Get the condom,” she orders. “I need you in me.”

Murphy couldn't—no, wouldn’t argue with that even if he had the slightest desire in his heart to. He shuffles around in his nightstand drawer before settling on a condom. _Perfect_.

He tosses it to Raven and she peels it open gleefully. He kneels before her and she rolls it onto him, giving him little praise and saying how good he’s going to fill her and how badly she wants him.

Once it is on all the way, she leans back and he settles in between her thighs. He kisses her again, not wanting to be apart from her lips for any longer. His cock finds its way to her entrance as she spreads her legs wide, opening all the way up for him.

“Now, Murphy. Please, I need it.”

Murphy moans as he presses inside her, reveling in her tight, wet heat. She moans along with him and wraps her arms around his back. He buries his face in her neck, licking little strips on it to settle himself. Fully seated inside, he kisses the corner of her mouth and looks right into her eyes. “How do you want it?”

“I don’t care, Murphy, just fuck me!” She wraps her legs around his waist and he slides in deeper.

He wants to go as deep as Raven goes, to feel all her depths and know her in a way not many people can. He moans at the feeling, joining in with Raven. He tests the waters, starting at a moderate pace. Raven urges him onward, telling him how good he feels. The shallow thrusts drive her especially wild, so he intersperses them with the deep strokes he prefers. He goes faster and slower, experimenting to see what she likes best.

Time loses meaning as they fuck. Murphy loses himself in her smoky eyes and finds the deepest pleasure in raking his eyes over her soft body down to where they meet. Every part of Raven draws him in, makes him want to make this last forever.

As he gets closer, Murphy’s steady thrusts get more erratic. It’s getting harder and harder to hold himself back. So he recedes to that shallow spot that makes her gasp and rubs her clit up and down with his thumb.

“Let go, Raven.” He nibbles on her lower lip. “You’re safe here, just let go.”

Her moans get louder and less coherent. Her body starts twitching and he knows it can’t be long now. He twists his hips and whispers praise in her ear, willing her to tip over the edge. He can only hold out for so long, and no way in hell is he gonna come before Raven.

“Oh- oh- oh!” Raven tenses around him, her eyes squeezing shut as her pussy clamps and floods his cock with even more of her soaking come.

He works her through it, movements gentle and sure. Raven’s grip soon loosens on him and she sighs, eyes fluttering back open.

“Good?” He chuckles.

“Yeah, good, dummy,” she retorts, rolling her eyes.

Her eyes end up rolling to the back of her head when he picks the pace up and fucks into her like never before. She mewls and he curses, so turned on by how hot she is he can hardly think past his lust.

His hips sputter and he comes, buried as deep inside her as he can go. Murphy seeks out Raven’s mouth and kisses her languidly, pouring everything she makes him feel into it.

He pulls out and throws away the condom, then lies down next to her. Raven pulls him into her arms and holds him there, both of them breathing heavily.

“I don’t know about you, Raven… but something about us feels like fate.”

She just strokes his arm in return.

* * *

Raven wakes up to the electronic chime of her ringtone. She rolls over in bed, her skin leaving the warmth of Murphy’s. She fumbles around on the floor until she finds her coat and her phone in the zippered compartment. It’s an unknown number, but the area code is Polis. She needs to take this.

“Who is it?” Murphy asks, yawning and frowning at her absence from his side.

“Just a minute,” she says, and slips out of the bedroom. Once she closes the door behind her she picks up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello, this is Thelonius Jaha from Polaris Enterprises. Am I speaking to Raven Reyes?”

Raven swallows hard. This is it: by this point, she either has the job or they’re denying her. “This is she.”

“Well then, I guess I have good news for you. I would like to offer you the position of staff engineer. You have one week to get back to us if you will take it. I will send you the salary and benefits details—is the email you listed in your application still good?”

Raven schools her expression, trying to contain the sheer glee that spreads through her at his offer. “Yes, that’s right. And thank you, Thelonius. I will get back to you soon.”

“Very well. Have a good day Raven.” He hangs up abruptly, but Raven shrugs it off as poor social skills.

It doesn’t feel real at first. Raven has just been offered a job at her dream company. She can see herself being happy there for a long time. She squeals silently and jumps up and down, probably looking like a complete idiot—not even wearing any clothes but not caring either.

“Raven?” he calls from the bedroom. “You all good out there?”

Raven sucks in a steadying breath and turns the knob to go back into the room. “I’m good, yeah,” she says and cracks into a grin. “I’m really good, actually. They just offered me the job at Polaris.”

Murphy sits the rest of the way up, hair messy from sleep and blankets pooling at his hips. “That’s amazing, Rey. I know that’s something you really wanted.”

“More than anything else.” She pauses, guilt washing over her. “I should go.”

“So soon?” Murphy reaches out as if to grab her hand but she’s standing too far away.

“Yeah.” Raven picks up her clothes off the floor and pulls them on her body as she goes. “I’ve got work later, I should get going.” From the looks of the time it is still several hours until she needs to get ready for work, but being here in Murphy’s apartment feels wrong. It feels like she’s cheating on something.

Murphy runs his fingers back through his hair. “Can I at least get your number, before you go?”

Raven pinches her lips between her teeth. Murphy looks so hopeful, so nervous. She can’t bear to look at him as she says, “I’m sorry, Murphy. The signs are clear, we’re not meant to be together.”

“But-” Raven looks up to see the devastated pout on his face. “-I just thought-” He sighs. “Fine, whatever. If you don’t wanna try, I’m not gonna make you. I thought we had something, but apparently not.”

Raven’s jaw clenches. “It’s not that, Murphy. You have to know I like you.” This time she looks him straight in the eyes. He has to know she’s serious. “That’s exactly why I can’t be with you. I need to focus on my future. And this? I’m sorry, it’s just not meant to be. Stringing us on for the months before I leave isn’t gonna change anything, it’ll just make it hurt more.”

“Whatever you want, Raven.”

“You spent your bill, right? The one with your name and number?” Raven can’t quite bring herself to leave without at least making sure she has a chance of seeing him again.

“Yeah.”

Raven shrugs her coat back on. “Good. Then may we meet again.”

Murphy flops back on the bed, quietly repeating her words. She lets out a halfhearted sigh and walks out the door.

Raven should have never let things go so far last night, not when she knew it wasn’t going to work for them long term. Murphy isn’t the right kind of guy for a hookup, she likes him too much. She naively thought that she’d get him out of her system and be able to move on easily, but that no longer seems so easy.

She focuses back on the job offer she just got. That is what is important right now. Maybe she and Murphy will meet again and maybe they won’t, but at least this way she knows she’s doing what’s right.


	2. The Jab Lines

_**7 Years Later** _

Murphy picks at his shirt, fastening and unfastening the top button. How far up should he go? He knows Emori loves seeing his bare chest, but this is a fancy restaurant. He probably shouldn’t dress the way she likes to see him here. This sort of place is way out of his comfort zone, but he’s trying to grow up, trying to be fancy and actually use his money to treat his girlfriend. If he knows anything, it’s that she deserves the best and he wants to be the best for her.

Sure, right after Raven left him, he hoped he’d see her again. The time they shared together was nothing short of magical, and he wished more than anything she’d call him one day, that she’d found his five dollar bill or given in and looked him up.

Eventually though, he knew he was chasing after a ghost. Raven was gone, and he had to deal with that. So when he met Emori at a concert one day a few years later and they spent the rest of the day together, he knew his time with Raven was over. The timing hadn’t been right; she wasn’t the girl for him. But Emori? Emori is great. She’s sweet and strong and a little scary sometimes.

Today is their fourth anniversary, and he’s waiting for her to meet him at a fancy restaurant, some Italian place he’s never been to before and he can’t even pronounce the name. His friends have been bothering him for ages about when he’s going to ‘pop the question.’ Emori is a dream girl, he knows that, but something is holding him back. When he asks her to spend forever with him, he wants to be sure. And honestly, he isn’t a hundred percent sure yet.

She catches his eye when she walks in the door, unzipping her parka to reveal a shimmering blue dress. Murphy’s jaw drops. How is she able to look that good when he knows damn well she spent most of her day on a construction site? He’s one lucky bastard to be able to call Emori his girl.

He stands to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek when she gets to their table.

“Happy anniversary, baby,” he says, pulling back from her and sitting down at his chair.

“Happy anniversary.” She smiles and giggles nervously, eyes darting around the room. “This is unlike you, you know. What’s gotten into you, John?”

Murphy shrugs, suddenly even more nervous than before. “You deserve the best.”

Emori tilts her head to the side and smiles, reaching her hand over the table to squeeze his. Her skin is warm in his, her nails manicured even as they’re usually super short because she has the nervous habit of biting her nails.

“I could honestly ask the same thing of you, Mori. Can’t remember the last time I saw you so dressed up, especially on a work night.”

She shrugs right back at him, covering her chin with her free hand. “It’s like you said: I deserve the best.” She laughs at her own joke.

Murphy squeezes her hand in response. “So. Seeing as we have something to celebrate, how about a little champagne?”

“Champagne? At a restaurant? Wow, you really are going all out today.”

“It’s our anniversary! That only happens once a year. Besides, I can afford it. All that saving’s gotta start paying off someday.”

“I’m proud of you, John,” she says. Even so, she orders the cheapest bottle on the menu. That’s just how Emori is.

Before they start their meal, they toast to their relationship.

“To four happy years,” Emori says, holding up her glass with an elbow on the table. “And to many more to come. I never thought I would find love, not like this. I didn’t think I could find someone I’d love more than anything else, and I sure as hell didn’t think anyone would feel that way about me.” She sighs. “When I went out to that concert, I’ll be honest, I was in a pretty rough spot. You know that. And I wasn’t looking for love, I was looking for a blunt.” She giggles. “I probably shouldn’t say that in a nice restaurant, should I? Anyway. It was pure serendipity that I found you in that moment and I’m so grateful that I did. Because that day I found my home.”

Emori’s eyes are glimmering, shy smile all over her face. Murphy’s mouth runs dry. _Serendipity_. He almost wants to correct her, to say that that word’s not for her, not for them. It leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

_No._ Emori is his everything. Murphy raises his glass and clinks in against hers. “To us. I love you, baby.”

“And I love you too.” She takes a swig of champagne, a little more like a gulp honestly. She’s almost shaking in her seat.

As much as Murphy wants to enjoy their evening and Emori’s company, half of him isn’t here. At Emori’s mention of serendipity, he can’t stop thinking about _her_. Raven. And it’s not like he doesn’t feel guilty as hell about it. It feels like cheating, and he’s not a cheater. No, it’s just a problem because it’s always felt like his story with Raven was all a beginning and they had no middle or ending. It’s always felt like there was something more.

He pushes thoughts of the past and what could’ve been out of his mind as much as he can. Emori is his right here and right now. She deserves all of his love.

The night floats on by and at the end of it he’s in bed with Emori, her sleeping form just a mop of hair beside him. He can’t sleep, and he’s been tossing and turning for what feels like hours.

Emori’s fingers dig into her pillow, and it dawns on him: she was expecting a proposal tonight, and he didn’t even notice. His heart twists for her. She wants security so badly, wants stability and a home and _forever_. They’ve talked about forever, and even though he can’t commit to it quite yet he does intend to propose to Emori. But she thought it was going to be today. She dressed up—probably leaving work early to do it—and most importantly got her hopes up, and he hasn’t even looked at rings yet. He really is a shit boyfriend.

He’s going to hate himself in the morning or this, but in the dark it’s so easy to imagine it isn’t Emori in bed beside him. The mess of dark hair could so easily be Raven’s— _was_ Raven’s, years ago. He tries to remember the way she smelled, the way she tasted, what the lilt of her voice was. It’s been so long now the stain of a million recollections has contaminated the memory. But he can still feel the ghost of her lips on his skin, when the lights go out.

Murphy turns away from Emori. He can’t look at her anymore. It hurts too much, brings tears to his eyes he can’t afford to shed in the middle of the night and wake her. She deserves better than to soak up his tears over some other girl.

* * *

Raven spent all week planning the date. It’s Friday night, and she got Finn to agree to cutting off work for the weekend and going on a trip with her. They’re driving up north to stay in a ski lodge for the weekend, and even though she hasn’t skied since the accident that left her with a bum leg and chronic pain to boot, she’s really excited about it.

She and Finn are long overdue for a vacation. They both work too much—Finn often late into the evenings—and they rarely spend much time together anymore that’s not in front of a tv. He’s been distant lately, but then again so has Raven. They’re just out of sync and overworked; it’ll get better once they have the trip. What was wrong with them was nothing more than a lapse in passion. That is normal, after couples have been together for a while. That’s why they’re feeling disconnected.

Raven packs her things: clothes, and her favorite lingerie—a red set she hasn’t worn in ages. She goes to the kitchen and packs some snacks and bottles of wine, eyes shifting to the garage door every time she thinks she hears a sound. Finn will be home soon.

She finishes packing and starts cleaning the kitchen, needing something to do with her hands as she waits for Finn to come home. He should be here by now. She finishes the dishes and moves onto the counters, then the floors… and he still isn’t here.

Raven checks the clock again. He was supposed to be home an hour ago.

She picks up her cellphone and calls his number. It rings once, and she already knows it will go to voicemail, but she waits it out anyway. She wants to be wrong. For this just this once, Raven wants anything other than to be right.

She’s right.

Raven doesn’t leave a voicemail. Either he forgot or he is ignoring her, and she doesn’t know which one is better. Tears in her eyes, she pours herself a full glass of merlot, grabs a trashy romance book, and goes to the living room and throws herself on the couch. She doesn’t know how to feel. But she knows that, however perfectly planned her life is, it isn’t perfect. She isn’t even sure she likes it anymore.

But as Raven reads, her mind drifts. She can’t focus, not on the book. Her mind is fuzzy and far off. She is disappointed Finn didn’t come home, but honestly she’s not as sad as she should be. She can’t really bring herself to care, anymore. She tries to remember the last time she was happy, but nothing comes to mind. It was too long ago.

The door clicks open and Finn comes inside. Raven glances at the time on her phone. 10pm. She turns her head to him but he doesn't acknowledge her, instead going straight to the bathroom and turning on the shower.

Raven turns back to her book. So that’s how it’s going to be. Not even an apology, not even an indication to let her know he feels bad about making her wait on him. Maybe he doesn’t even remember the trip. She’s been talking about it every day, but she gets the indication he doesn’t listen when she talks.

Raven grabs her glass of wine and gulps it down. The sugar rush is going to be worth it. She has to chill out, has to get rid of that nagging feeling deep inside of her that she is going down the wrong path.

When Raven found Finn again after years apart, she couldn’t believe her luck. Even though they grew up in the same small town on the other side of the country, they both ended up in Polis. She of course was working for Polaris, and he was thriving in the business sector.

They were childhood friends pulled apart by Finn’s moving to go to college across the country, so when Raven saw him while scouring the local news on her lunch break, she couldn’t believe her eyes. She had to believe she was seeing things, that there had to be more than one Finn Collins out there. But when she searched his name, it was clear he was the same person: Finn, _her_ Finn, was in Arkadia. She called him and they went to dinner and hit it off immediately. It was almost as if no time had passed at all, as if they were meant to be. Soon they went from friends to more, and three years in Finn got down on one knee and asked Raven to be his. Of course she said yes. It was perfect. Her life was perfect.

But now, it doesn’t seem like her life is as perfect as she thought it was. Her relationship with Finn is crumbling, and she has the nagging feeling he’s hiding something from her. She never would have thought of Finn as someone to cheat, but her suredness of that is waning quickly.

When Raven thinks about fate, about serendipity, she doesn't think of Finn. No, she once thought he was her serendipity, but now when she thinks of Finn in that sense all she feels is a pang of regret.

Instead, she thinks of Murphy. The man she met at the airport all those years ago. At the time, everything felt wrong. She couldn’t be with him, not the way they both deserved. She was moving away and focusing on her career, and he was at school far away from those things. There was no reason to uproot either one of their lives for a decent person met in passing. It wasn’t practical. Yet somehow Raven still found herself thinking of him, wondering where her life would be if she’d just given him her number like he’d asked. Or if their little methods of finding each other somehow worked and she saw him again.

What would she do if she saw him? Raven doesn’t know. She’s engaged, for god’s sake. To throw all that she’s built out for someone she spent a few brief magical moments with would be insane. Something in her tells her she should, though.

When Finn got out of the shower, Raven calls him in to her. “Finn?”

“Yes dear?”

She hates when he calls her that. It makes her cringe. She’s 29, not 80.

“Where were you out so late?”

He stands in front of her, hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. “Work. Big project, Kane is really riding my ass right now. Didn’t even have the time to check my phone. Sorry about the missed messages.”

“Are you?” Raven slants her eyes at him, trying to get a read on whether he’s lying.

“Of course I am, babe.” He pads over and sits at the opposite end of the couch. He yawns and runs his fingers through his hair. “What do you want me to say? It’s work, it’s not like I can control it. I wanted more than anything than to come home to you and go on the trip. Let’s leave first thing tomorrow. We can still have a great weekend.”

“Then make me feel something.” Damn if she isn’t feeling brave tonight.

“You want me to make you _feel_ something, Raven? If that’s not happening on its own, I don’t know what I can do to help you.”

“Just be here?” It feels pathetic, but she is at her wit’s end here. She doesn’t know what else to say, what else to do.

“Fine.” Finn huffs, but he complies and doesn’t get up from her side. Raven opens her mouth to talk, but before she can he turns on the tv.

She adjusts her position, not bothering to speak anymore. She honestly just doesn’t give a fuck. Her open mouth gapes like a dying fish for a second, opening and closing before she ultimately puts her book in her line of sight so she can forget about Finn except where her toes touch him. She tries to block that out too, but she ends up reading the same page of her book over and over again.

Raven shakes her head, speaking over the tv. “I’m canceling the trip. Won’t get my deposit back, but it’s fine. I need some space, Finn.”

“Whatever. I’m going to bed.”

He gets up, and Raven sinks back into the couch cushions. She stretches her legs out so she takes over the entire couch and turns toward the backrest, pulling a blanket up to her ears. She waits for the tears to come, but they never do. She just stares at the stitching of the grey upholstery, rubbing her fingers along the slight roughness.

Something has to change in her life, doesn’t it? She can’t go on like this forever, a fake smile on her face pretending like everything is okay when really she can’t _feel_ anything, doesn’t care about anything.

Her short nails scratch against the upholstery, making a pattern with their noises. It’s nonsense, Raven knows that, but somehow it sounds like Murphy's name.

She fishes her cellphone off the side table and calls Sinclair before resting the phone on her ear and curling back up. It’s late where he is, same as her, but he always picks up when she calls.

“Raven?” He picks up the phone, warm voice reminding her of home. “Are you okay? I haven’t heard from you in ages.”

“The phone works both ways, you know.” Raven forces a smile into her voice. She sighs. “I’m not gonna lie to you. I’m not doing great. I’m confused and conflicted and I don’t know if anything that I’m doing is right. How do you know you’re doing the right thing?” Her voice is whiny, but she can’t bring herself to care.

“Is this about work?” he asks.

“No, no, nothing like that. I love my job.” And Raven really does mean it. She knows she’s working for the corporate machine, but that doesn’t change the fact that her job is pretty damn badass. They’re working on a rocket, and it’s only seven months until it’s planned to blast off. This is what kind of thing Raven has wanted to work on since she was a kid.

“Then what is it?” His voice is soft. “If it isn’t work, is it- personal life?”

“It’s Finn.” She swallows carefully, rolling over and keeping an eye on the bedroom door in case he walks back out. She speaks quietly, voice quivering. “I can’t help but think we’re not meant to be together after all.”

“Is it wedding planning jitters, do you think? Or something more?”

“I have no idea.” Raven shakes her head. “I don’t know anything anymore. I just feel trapped and like I’m not where I’m supposed to be. I’m not happy, I’m not sad, I’m just here. I’m numb and I hate it. Where did the fire go? I swear I used to have a fire in me, but now I’m just cold.”

“I’m here for you, Raven. If you ever need to talk, or have some time away… I’m here same as always.”

It gets Raven’s mind thinking. She really does need time away. She thought she needed time away with Finn, but maybe what she really needs is time away _from_ Finn. Get some perspective on their relationship, then she’ll be able to see what she needs to do. Hopefully that thing is marry Finn. That’s the easiest thing. But at this point, it’s just as likely she’ll need to break off their engagement and leave him.

“How soon can you have me?” she asks, voice small. She doesn’t know how much longer she can stand being trapped in this house.

“As soon as you can get here.” Sinclair’s voice is warm and reassuring. It’s that sound of his voice that makes her start crying.

“Thank you. I’ll be there soon. Now get some sleep, you shouldn’t be awake so late, you know.”

“I know sweetie. Have a good night and I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon.” Raven hangs up the phone and pulls up information on flights, wiping at her eyes. She’s going to Arkadia.

* * *

Murphy needs a night off more than anything. And now, with Emori on a business trip to TonDC, is a perfect time to let loose with Monty and Harper. They’re the only friends he still really keeps in contact with from college, and that’s mostly because they won’t let him ignore them. Seriously, they just show up at his doorstep and pound on the door if he ignores too many texts.

They’re the perfect couple and have been since before they even really got together. Murphy envies it the comfort and ease they share in their relationship. They don’t seem to ever fight—every disagreement they solve respectfully and without screaming at each other. It’s a very strange concept to Murphy and oftentimes he wonders if they’re actually human.

Now they’re out at a bar, and Murphy is admittedly getting a little too drunk.

“I’m just saying,” he drawls, “how am I supposed to know there’s nothing there? That I’m not making some big mistake with Emori?”

Monty scowls. “We’ve been through this time and time again, I thought you were over this. Maybe you could’ve had something with Raven, maybe not. But either way you have something _really good_ , now, with Emori.”

Harper nods along with him, hand covering overtop her drink. “People don’t just have one soulmate, Murphy. There’s a whole bunch of people you can be perfect with. It’s about that compatibility, you know? You have that with Emori. You just need to give her your all and work with the one you’ve got. You really could be perfect together, I can see it.”

Murphy frowns into his drink. He hates being treated like a love dumb child, even when that’s how he feels. “Don’t you think after four years together, if we were gonna be perfect we would be by now?”

“People aren’t perfect, and neither are relationships.” Monty shrugs. “We’re just human.”

“But you guys are perfect!” Murphy can hear himself getting whiny, but he can’t help it. “I just want what you guys have.”

“What you need is to be honest with Emori. You’re really keeping her in the dark here, man. If you’re not ready to get married, just say it. You’re spiraling.”

Monty is probably right. Murphy forcibly changes the topic of the conversation and lets his love troubles slip from his mind. None of that is important anymore.

By the end of the night, he’s even feeling a little bit better. Harper and Monty always help him feel better, even if it’s through tough love.

When Monty parks the car outside Murphy's apartment to let him out and he hugs Harper through the passenger side window, both of them silly drunk, she leans in to whisper in his ear. “I’ll be over to your place at 10am sharp tomorrow. You get my full attention for one day, Murphy. We’re gonna give this serendipity thing one more shot and then you’re gonna put it to bed.”

He hugs her even tighter. “You’re the best, Harper.”

“Yeah yeah,” she brushes him off, waving goodbye. “Goodbye Murphy baby! Have a good night night!”

Murphy chuckles and shakes his head at her sudden change, waving back to both her and Monty. “I’m only three weeks younger than you, old lady!”

***

In the morning, Murphy wakes up to a pounding at his door. He groans, rolling over and pulling a pillow over his head.

“Murphy!” Harper shouts. “Open up or I’m leaving!”

Murphy groans and pries himself out of bed, not even bothering to pull on a shirt before he stumbles to the front door. He turns the lock and opens it to find Harper, already made up and ready to go, looking him up and down before she raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t see it, Murphy, why are people attracted to you?”

“Ouch!” Murphy throws his head back and a hand over his chest. “Most people are not so immune to my charms.”

Harper shakes her head and thrusts a thermos of coffee into his hand he didn’t even realize she was holding. “You’re many good things, Murphy, but punctual is not one of them. Go on, get dressed, and-” She turns her nose. “Take a shower too.”

Murphy waves her off, but he is secretly glad she’s here. In the shower he thinks about Raven and the possibility that might still linger there. He knows it’s shitty of him to entertain these thoughts when he has an amazing long-term girlfriend, but that doesn’t stop him from doing it. Besides, he decides, if this goes as planned he’ll just be more dedicated to Emori than ever before.

When he comes back out, Harper is sitting at his kitchen counter and scrolling through her phone.

“Whatcha doing?” he asks, leaning over her shoulder.

“Plotting our course. I know how you are with organizing.”

Murphy rolls her eyes at her, but she either ignores him or doesn’t see.

“There are nine used book stores in Arkadia, plus about fifteen thrift stores. I’ve prioritized them by size and location, so we should be able to get through a lot of them.”

Shit. This is starting to sound like a lot of work. Murphy takes a big swig of coffee. “Alright. So what are we waiting for?”

Harper pats his hand and leads him out the door.

It only takes a couple of stores to get into the swing of things. They check if the books are sorted, and if they are they go to that section first. Murphy isn’t sure he’s ever actually read a poetry book, but if he finds this one he’ll be reading _Shadowed Dreams: Women’s Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance_ cover to cover. Next they each go to opposite ends and work their way to each other, searching for the purple spine.

A couple times, he almost gets his hopes up. He finds a purple book, even a copy of the same book a couple times, and he hopes. It always ends in disappointment though. He opens the cover and there’s nothing there—maybe a name or a note but it's never Raven.

It’s nearing dinnertime when he finds a copy at Paul’s Books. Murphy holds it in his hands, closes his eyes, sinks down to the floor against a structural beam, and peaks inside. He doesn’t know why he even bothers at this point; he knows her name won’t be there. He wants to throw the book against the wall, but he refrains himself. Causing a scene and ruining a perfectly good book won’t solve any of his problems.

Murphy sighs and runs his finger over the expanse of worn page corners, opening to a random page. His hand falls on the last lines of carefully blotted ink, centered on the page.

_“Last night I danced by the light of the moon_

_delirious and gay_

_Then slipped into my sober self_

_Just ere the break of day”_

He reads over it a few times, only half recognizing what it’s even about. This is all pointless. This fantasy he’s entertaining, it’s not real. It’s not worth throwing his future away for. He’s happy with Emori, he really is. And that’s why he’s going to ask her to marry him.

Murphy snaps the book closed and slides back up to his feet before tucking it back among the countless other books and going to find Harper. He finds her by the checkout, looking through the employees’ book recommendations they have up on a board.

“I’m ready,” Murphy says.

Harper nods. “Okay the next stop is Goodwill on Allen Street. I heard-”

“-No,” Murphy interrupts her, shaking his head. “I’m _ready_.” His gaze implores her to understand without him having to say anything else.

“Oh, okay, um, so, should I take you home then?”

“Yeah.” Murphy starts walking toward the exit, suddenly aware of how uncomfortable it is being in the bookstore. “I need some time alone. Thanks for helping out today; you’ve been a great friend.”

“Don’t mention it.” Her voice is drowned out by the bell on the door and the employee’s ringing _“have a nice day!”_

As soon as he’s alone inside his apartment, Murphy lets out a sigh of relief and then a whoop. He’s ready. He’s _ready_. Now that Raven’s gone from his mind, he can finally give Emori the attention she deserves and settle down. But first, he needs to ask her to marry him.

He dances around the kitchen, unsure what to do with all his newfound energy. He opens the fridge and pulls out some ingredients, deciding on a toasted sandwich for dinner.

Murphy eats his dinner at the kitchen counter, sandwich in one hand and laptop under the other, researching engagement rings.

* * *

It doesn’t take long for Raven to pack. She’s already packed for the ski trip, so she simply exchanges a few items, tells Finn she’s going to visit Sinclair for a while, and leaves.

Her whole body thrums on her way to the airport, and it never stops thrumming even as she steps out of the plane into her layover in Troit. It’s been ages since she's been to this particular airport—it isn’t a hub for most airlines, but occasionally when she goes to Arkadia there’s a flight out of here.

It’s a two hour layover, and checking the time she’s got plenty before she needs to get to her gate for the connecting flight. Walking through the terminal, she laughs out loud when she sees the same coffeeshop she went to years ago, the one where she first got to talking with Murphy.

_Serendipity._

A few people give her strange looks as she laughs to herself and rushes through the crowded walkway to get in line at the coffee shop. Her memory is hazy on exactly what it looked like when she was here last, but it seems to be effectively unchanged. This time it’s busier, with people milling around and every table full. Raven drifts through the line and orders herself a black coffee as always.

She gazes around the shop and its customers, wondering about where they’re all going. It’s an airport coffee shop, so everyone is in limbo. Still, some of them have this air about them that they belong here, like they wouldn’t exist anywhere except in an airport coffeeshop.

There is an older couple chatting over newspapers as they sip their likely decaf coffee. They look like tourists, if the man’s hat and woman’s sunburn is anything to go by. They’re probably on their way back from a vacation somewhere nice and warm. There’s a young family in the corner, a man wrangling two toddlers as a woman feeds a baby, their food barely touched. A young woman sits alone at a table, scrolling through her phone and taking big sips of her coffee. Her leg shakes and she vibrates her whole table.

The barista calls Raven’s order and hands it over to her with a smile. Raven takes it and hesitates over the cream and sugar sitting out on the table. Usually she wouldn’t take any, but for some reason she feels called to today. She adds a sugar packet and a splash of cream, then mixes them around in her coffee. It’s not exactly the sugary explosion she remembers Murphy ordering all those years ago, but it is sweet compared to what she’s used to.

The shop is busy enough there’s no open tables or room at the bar, so she heads toward the door to find somewhere else in the airport to drink her coffee. But just as she’s leaving, the older couple stands up and throws out their trash, wheeling away their carry-ons.

Raven jumps at the chance, sitting in the seat the woman vacated and settling in. She takes a few sips of her sweet coffee and smiles. She doesn’t feel the urge to pull out her phone, instead she just considers the coffee shop. She feels safe here, safe and rejuvenated. It’s a nice solace from how her day has been so far—her last lot of days, if she’s being honest with herself.

It’s maybe ten minutes later when the businessman at the table next to hers gets up and a tall no-nonsense business woman dressed in all black replaces him. She sits down with her steaming dark-colored tea, and Raven’s gaze flits over to her as she shoves change into her wallet.

A flash of red ink catches Raven’s attention, and then she sees it: the name Murphy written in clear handwriting.

She scrambles for what to say, but before she can think better of it her hand reaches out toward the bill.

The woman slaps her hand out of the air and snatches her wallet back toward her chest. “What the fuck to you think you’re doing?” she hisses.

Fuck. That was definitely the wrong move. Raven forces herself to lean back. “I’m so sorry I- can I look at that bill there? I have to see it.”

The woman doesn’t look impressed.

Raven scrambles. She can’t miss her chance just because she’s being an idiot and seeming really creepy. “I can pay, okay?” She fishes through her wallet and pulls out a twenty. “I’ll give you twenty dollars in exchange for your five. That’s a good deal, right?”

The woman knits her eyebrows. “What game are you playing at?”

“I’m not playing a game, I swear.” Raven sighs. “I just want that particular bill.”

“Fine.” The woman clicks her tongue. “You first.”

Raven slides the bill onto her table. The woman snatches it up and replaces it with the five dollar bill Raven was looking for. Raven almost squeals when she picks it up. She turns it over in her hands, getting to the words written in bold red Sharpie: **John Murphy**. A phone number is written below it.

John Murphy is a very common name, after all. But there’s no doubt in Raven’s mind that this is _her_ Murphy. It has to be. Why else would this bill show up in the very coffee shop they spent time at years ago, at the very time she’s looking for a sign of whether to stay in her relationship with Finn or leave him for something new?

This isn’t only a sign, this is the power of Serendipity.

Raven’s heart thrums. Holding this bill in her hand, finally she feels like she’s on the right path.

“You’re crazy,” the woman finally says, and Raven just shakes her head.

“Maybe I am.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies!
> 
> First off, I want to say a big thank you to [easilydistractedbyfanfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/easilydistractedbyfanfic/pseuds/easilydistractedbyfanfic) for prompting me to write this through The t100 Fic for BLM Initiative! They are an amazing person and writer and I've been a fan for a long time. Second, thank you to the lovely [sparklyfairymira](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myonetruelove/pseuds/Sparklyfairymira) for betaing! I’m still giggling over how I used the word _jugular_ during smut. She puts up with too much from me. 
> 
> The t100 Fic for BLM Initiative is going strong, and we would love to take your prompts in exchange for your donations to a good cause. Please check out our [carrd](https://t100fic-for-blm.carrd.co/) if you are interested!
> 
> This is my first time writing Murven, so hopefully you like how I've done so far! I'd love to hear your thoughts and chat in the comments.
> 
> Much love!  
> -Mobi ❤️


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